The venous system includes a series of valves that function to assist the flow of blood returning to the heart. These natural valves are particularly important in the lower extremities to prevent blood from pooling in the lower legs and feet during situations, such as standing or sitting, when the weight of the column of blood in the vein can act to prevent positive blood flow toward the heart. This condition, commonly known as ‘chronic venous insufficiency’, is primarily found in individuals in which gradual dilation of the veins, thrombotic events, or other conditions prevent the leaflets of the native valves from closing properly. This leads to significant leakage of retrograde flow such that the valve is considered ‘incompetent’. Chronic venous insufficiency is a potentially serious condition in which the symptoms can progress from painful edema and unsightly spider or varicose veins to skin ulcerations. Elevation of the feet and compression stocking can relieve symptoms, but do not treat the underlying disease. Untreated, the disease can impact the ability of individuals to perform in the workplace or maintain their normal lifestyle.
To treat venous valve insufficiency, a number of surgical procedures have been employed to improve or replace the native valve, including placement of artificial valve prosthesis. These efforts have met with limited success and have not been widely adopted as a method of treating chronic venous insufficiency. More recently, the search has been to find a suitable self-expanding or radially-expandable artificial valve that can be placed using minimally invasive techniques rather than requiring open surgery and its obvious disadvantages. Thus far, use of prosthetic venous valves has remained experimental only.
While attempts have been made to mimic the function of the natural valve, there is no expandable valve for venous transcatheter placement that includes a combination of the native structural features that individually or collectively, may prove highly advantageous or critical for a successful valve. One common problem evident from early experiences with prosthetic valves is the formation of thrombus around the base of the leaflets, probably due at least in part to blood pooling in that region. In a natural valve, the leaflets are typically located within a sinus or enlargement in the vein. There is some evidence that the pockets formed between the leaflets and the walls of the sinus create vortices of flowing blood that help flush the pocket and prevent blood from stagnating and causing thrombosis around the valve leaflets, which can interfere with the function of the valve. It is thought that the stagnating blood prevents oxygen from reaching the endothelium covering the valve cusps, leading to hypoxia of the tissues which may explain increased thrombus formation typical in that location. Expandable-frame valve prostheses typically are of a generally cylindrical in shape and lack an artificial sinus or pocket space that is sufficient for simulating these natural blood flow patterns. What is needed is an intravenously placed artificial valve that is configured to create more effective flow patterns around the valve structure to circulate the blood or bodily fluids and reduce the likelihood of stagnation and the potential clinical problems that may result.